Greetings!
My Minimalism lifestyle started on a very simple note because I grew up watching my parents manage the little they had to provide for us. However, as I grew older, one aspect I found difficult to fully embrace was the habit of decluttering my wardrobe. While it seemed easy for others to give away clothes they were no longer using, and even new ones they had barely worn, it was a big challenge for me. I viewed those people as very rich because how could they dash out clothes like that?
I had a cousin, and I was essentially the final destination for his wardrobe. What do I mean by that? He would give me clothes whenever they visited home for holidays. He’d hand me the ones he brought from the city that he was no longer using, and even when washing the ones at home, he’d just fling some my way.
It made me wonder how he could be emptying his wardrobe like that. Of course, they were rich, so I thought he had an excess of clothes, which is why he was always giving them away. But as I grew older and understood the simplicity of owning fewer, more usable clothes, I realized he wasn’t just giving them to me because he had too many but was also making things simpler for himself.
To be truthful, I didn’t have many clothes then to compete with the people who were constantly giving theirs away. I had a small number of clothes, most of which were gifts, especially from this cousin, because the clothes were usually in very good shape. I’ve always known how to maintain clothes and give them longevity. But, funnily enough, even with my small wardrobe, it always seemed bulky in the corner where I kept them. This was because I held on to clothes I no longer wore. Most of them I still wore occasionally, but it was rare, often on days when I wanted to appear different from what I was usually known for.
You know, when you haven’t worn a piece of clothing in a long time, putting it on makes you look fresh and different in the eyes of others, or at least gives the sense of being different. That’s what I didn’t want to miss. Since I didn’t have many clothes, I preferred to keep everything in good form, even if it meant waiting two to three years before wearing some of them again.
Many times, I felt the urge to clear out my wardrobe because it used to give me troubles on choosing, but then a stronger sense of hoarding would kick in. I had a habit of attaching deep sentimental value to my clothes, making it very hard to let go. At one point, I had my clothes well-matched or paired, and if I gave one away, I worried about when I would find a replacement or something that gave me the same fit and feeling.
Well, thank God for church, because it was there that I gradually developed the habit of decluttering. When announcements were made asking members to donate clothes in good shape that we were no longer using, it resonated with me. The spiritual message that "givers never lack" majorly triggered me, and once I started, I began to see how easy and liberating it is to have less.
Thank you for reading!
This is my entry to the #KISS prompt
Photos used are mine